Sheriff reveals biggest fear after 4 months with no leads

More than four months after Nancy Guthrie disappeared from her Arizona home, authorities say investigators are still working tirelessly behind the scenes – and remain convinced the case can be solved.

The 84-year-old vanished from her Tucson home on February 1, 2026, and is believed to have been taken against her will after surveillance footage allegedly showed a masked individual approaching her front door in the middle of the night.

Now, Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos has revealed the enormous scope of the investigation, describing a painstaking process involving “thousands and thousands” of videos, tips and pieces of biological evidence.

“Right now, I think our focus is on the tips, the leads and the evidence we have in front of us,” Sheriff Nanos told People. “Digitally – the camera footage as well as biological, the DNA and those types of things.”

Investigators are reportedly combing through surveillance footage gathered from intersections, businesses, neighborhoods and Ring doorbell cameras across the Tucson area in an effort to identify suspicious vehicles or movements tied to the case.

“There’s thousands and thousands of video out there from intersections and Ring cameras that we have to catalog,” the sheriff explained. “Maybe it’s all the white trucks are over here, all the red sedans are over here; you’ve gotta have it so that when you do find a suspect … ‘Hey, the suspect is John Doe, we got him,’ now we go and say, ‘Well, what else do we know about John Doe?'”

The sheriff said investigators are essentially building a digital map of evidence before narrowing in on potential suspects.

“‘Oh, he drives a white truck. Were there any white trucks in the area at that time?’” Sheriff Nanos continued. “‘Oh, John Doe has this cellphone number.’ You back up to those pieces of evidence that you gathered early on to try to make your case.”

At the same time, authorities are also waiting on advances in forensic testing that could prove crucial.

“I know we have DNA that is unknown who the contributor or depositor is, but I think they’re getting closer to finding out who that was,” he said, adding that he has “confidence in our labs.”

The sheriff said multiple laboratories across the country, including federal and state agencies, are assisting with the investigation as forensic technology continues to evolve.

“When you have the best minds of the country working on problems, I think they’re gonna solve them,” he said. “It just takes a while.”

Despite mounting public frustration over the lack of arrests or named suspects, Sheriff Nanos insisted detectives are deliberately moving carefully to avoid mistakes that could jeopardize a future prosecution.

“Nobody wants to make a false arrest. Nobody wants to falsely accuse somebody,” he emphasized. “At some point in time, someday we may have somebody in a courtroom that deserves his or her right to have a fair and impartial trial. The way you get that is through a fair and impartial investigation.”

The investigation recently drew further attention after FBI Director Kash Patel publicly claimed local authorities had delayed involving federal investigators during the early days of the search.

“What we, the F.B.I., do is say: ‘Hey, we’re here to help. What do you need? What can we do?’” Kash said during an appearance on the Hang Out with Sean Hannity podcast. “And for four days, we were kept out of the investigation.”

Sheriff Nanos strongly denied those allegations, insisting cooperation between his office and the FBI began immediately after Guthrie’s disappearance was reported.

“Director Patel has his rights to his opinions,” he said, adding that some remarks were factually inaccurate. “The FBI was with us day one,” he continued. “We’ve always had a working relationship.”

He also defended the early handling of the scene, rejecting criticism that authorities failed to act quickly enough in the crucial first hours after Guthrie vanished.

“The plane was started immediately,” Sheriff Nanos said, referring to aerial search operations. “They found blood. Search and rescue looked at the scene and realized it seemed suspicious. They did exactly what they were supposed to do.”

Back in February, the FBI confirmed it had received more than 13,000 public tips related to the case, and according to Nanos, information is still continuing to come in.

“We still get calls, we still get tips,” he said. “Even if the tip is from last night, 102 days later, because it might be somebody calling saying, ‘Somebody in this neighborhood doesn’t look right.'”

For now, investigators say they remain focused on following the evidence wherever it leads.

“My team, I’ve said all along, they’re gonna solve this,” Sheriff Nanos said. “I fully 100% believe that.”